Hanschen Rilow
Personality Hanschen is shown as confident, flirtatious, and pragmatic. He sees the reality of what is happening to the other children around him, and is not naive. He believes dreams are only fantasy, and are impractical. Hanschen, like Melchior, is charismatic and intelligent. It is also evident that he, too, is much more knowledgeable about issues surrounding sexuality and the corruption of society when compared to the other children. In the play, Hans is just as aware of the fakeness prevalent in his culture as Hanschen is in the musical, if not more so. However, while Hans believes that all adults are just pretending to be better than they really are, Hanschen believes and compels Ernst to believe that respectability, honesty, and integrity are all lies made up by adults to help them be happy with their own lives. Hans says that his ideal future is one full of pleasure and happiness, which was translated into the musical adaption as Hanschen telling Ernst that the ideal life is one of a bystander who merely 'skims the cream' rather than creating a fuss or overworking. It should be noted that in the musical, Hanschen is refers to taking advantage of the system rather than just despairing about the idiocy of it. In contrast to Melchior, he does not, "rock the boat", and instead keeps his opinions to himself. He believes that not challenging the system and the people that enforce it will benefit him in the end; however, it is worthy to mention that he could be suppressing his opinions, or perhaps has this outlook after he did try to voice his opinion. This is not clear, but is hinted in Totally Fucked ''("But, you're fucked if you speak your mind"). The line in ''Totally Fucked could also just be him proving his point, saying that it will screw you over if you try to stand against the status quo. Again, this is entirely up to interpretation. Background Humorous classmate. Like Melchior, he also appears to be very intelligent, but uses his knowledge in favor of the school system in order to further his place in society in the future. Fun Facts * Hanschen has no canonical romantic or sexual orientation, though he has been shown to be attracted to both men and women (Is probably bi, pan, or just queer, however this is up for personal interpretation) * In the Deaf West production, at the end of Totally Fucked, Hanschen (played by Andy Mientus) takes down his pants and moons the audience. He then has to put his pants back on for the vineyard scene. * In the middle of "My Junk," Hanschen masturbates to a post card with Coreggio's "Jupiter and Io" on it. He also makes an Othello reference by beginning the monologue with, "Have you prayed tonight, Desdemona?" * In the play Hänschen is a nickname--the diminutive form of Hans--but for reasons unknown, his name was changed to Hanschen in the musical adaption. * In "My Junk," there's a stage direction that says (As the song reaches a climax, so does HANSCHEN.) * Hanschen's attitude & feelings towards romance, life, and Ernst have become a source of controversy between individuals. Some see him as manipulative & abusive, and others as caring & genuine. Even within a single production, interpretations are vastly different, and this has brought discourse. Photos Category:Character Category:The Boys